Bird ID

[redfishbluefish]

I go to walk out my back door today, and was startled to see this guy sitting on the gate to the pool.....sorry for the bad picture:



I think it might be a red tail, but my bird ID skills are about as good as my hitchhiker ID abilities. :confused: I know why he's hanging out here....directly to my right are two bird feeders for the smaller seed eating birds. So this guy was here for lunch as well. :eek: He was spooked, and flew away.

 

[davocean]

I believe that is a cooper hawk

 

[redfishbluefish]

Well there you go @davocean , you've proven that my bird ID skills are about as good as my hitchhiker ID abilities....down right horrible! o_O

So I searched Cooper's Hawk and found this great site that has specific things to look for to make a definite identification. HERE's that link. So next time I see this guy (which actually is fairly frequently, but usually not this close) I'll know what to look for. But I think you might be right with your ID. Thanks.

 

[Fudsey]

Looks like it to me as well

 

[User1]

Coopers is a possibility - just depends on the size of the bird. Red Tail or a Coopers. If it looks close to 2 lbs then I'd go with a Red Tail.

 

[KrisReef]

Those Coopers are reef safe but I wouldn't let it nest anywhere near the tank. They can release a lot of nutrients.

 

[davocean]

Well there you go @davocean , you've proven that my bird ID skills are about as good as my hitchhiker ID abilities....down right horrible! o_O

So I searched Cooper's Hawk and found this great site that has specific things to look for to make a definite identification. HERE's that link. So next time I see this guy (which actually is fairly frequently, but usually not this close) I'll know what to look for. But I think you might be right with your ID. Thanks.

Lol, I'm not always best at hitcher ID's either.

When I was in JR high I had a kestrel/ sparrow hawk, those and red tails are what we are supposed to start off w/ in going for your falconers license, so I do pay attention to hawks a bit as an adult.

The longer narrower tail and slimmer body is what I spot for coopers, and they will sit lower and closer compared to RT
They also chase birds more, RT more to rodents.

Funny just yesterday I snapped a pic of a red tail as it was unusually close to me, and I saw it land on a branch as big as my leg, and the branch snapped under it, must have been a pretty dead tree, but it sure ruffled the RT's feathers!

We have a LOT of red tails around here, but it always stops me from what I'm doing to observe them every time.

 

[User1]

We are in a newly developed subdivision and have wetlands surrounding us so we get to see a lot of nice birds both seed and prey. Always enjoy walking our GSD and taking it in. We have a small courtyard with table chairs that we use during nice weather. I put a blood maple and another smaller one with a few planter boxes. Anyway an American Goldfinch (not sure if American or California is part of the name) landed on the light and started to sing its song. I was like cool. Couple days go by and it came back - I was all excited.

Better half walks by later and sees me shopping on Amazon for a bird feeder for it and she was like no. Just stop it right there - we don't need to feed when it has only stopped by twice :)

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Tough to tell. It could be a cooper or a sharp shinned. From the head and tail shape I would guess sharp shinned, but it could be either.

 

[KrisReef]

Tough to tell. It could be a cooper or a sharp shinned. From the head and tail shape I would guess sharp shinned, but it could be either.

Yup, that is another one for Staten Island:

https://www.silive.com/news/2018/02/are_there_hawks_in_your_backya.html

 

[davocean]

My pic was not the greatest, I was riding my mountain bike and it's just my cell snap.

It was a pretty day though, just enough break in rain to ride.

I've never seen a branch break under one when it landed like this, it was pretty weird, but did not hurt and it was obvious his feathers were ruffled and looked grumpy afterwards!

My camera is eh, but this guy was only about 10' away from me, this was a red tail.

 

[4FordFamily]

Sharp shinned typically have squared off tails, red tailed hawks generally have a white patch at the top of their chest, and I agree this looks like a subadult Coopers Hawk.

Sharp-shinned hawks are quite small, Cooper’s hawks are about twice the weight, and red tailed hawks are twice the weight of the Cooper’s hawk. Red tailed hawks have more “eagle-like” large beaks and the other two have smaller, thinner, sharper looking beaks.

Two juveniles followed by a subadult. Notice the spots on the chest lightening in color along other things.

6-8 oz for sharp shinned
1.1-1.3lbs for cooper’s
2.3-2.5lbs for red tailed.

 

[jabberwock]

Too small for a red tail, and his tail is not red... could be a juvenile though. I am thinking Red Shouldered hawk due to the lack of striping on the ventral side of the tail.

I am not a biologist, but my wife is!

 

[redfishbluefish]

Darn you birders! And I know it's my fault for not getting a better picture. So now I'm up to three possibilities:

1. Red Tail Hawk
2. Cooper's Hawk
3. Sharp Shinned Hawk

So here's a bit more information. We have high tension towers behind us, and this guy is usually perched up high on the tower, or flying to one of the other towers. My wife has named him (or her) squawky, because he lets out a loud squeal or screech. So what I did was google the calls of the three suspect hawks....and, the red tail call has that exact screech. So I'm now leaning toward the red tail. So now I'm very curious as to what I have....and will continue to see if I can get a better picture.....or identification markers. Note, the picture @Fudsey posted....my guy doesn't have the banding on the tail.

EDIT TO ADD: And while I was typing, @jabberwock added in the Red Shouldered Hawk, which also has a squawking call. Now I'm totally confused!

 

[MTBake]

I don't see too many Cooper's hawks. Red tails are more common were I'm at. We've also seen several young Bald Eagles around the river near my house. One was even circling over the house a few days ago.

Very cool to be so close to that Coopers!

 

[MTBake]

Darn you birders! And I know it's my fault for not getting a better picture. So now I'm up to three possibilities:

1. Red Tail Hawk
2. Cooper's Hawk
3. Sharp Shinned Hawk

So here's a bit more information. We have high tension towers behind us, and this guy is usually perched up high on the tower, or flying to one of the other towers. My wife has named him (or her) squawky, because he lets out a loud squeal or screech. So what I did was google the calls of the three suspect hawks....and, the red tail call has that exact screech. So I'm now leaning toward the red tail. So now I'm very curious as to what I have....and will continue to see if I can get a better picture.....or identification markers. Note, the picture @Fudsey posted....my guy doesn't have the banding on the tail.

It could be a young red tail.

 

[MTBake]

 

[redfishbluefish]

Just to make sure, I looked up the range maps for all four suspects, and they all "winter over" in NJ....permanent residents.

 

[davocean]

Now your mission should be get a better pic!
You hunt your bird w/ camera, I should do same, and I keep passing an osprey on our trail that has been in same spot for a while now, I really should get a good shot of that guy too, ospreys have just started to come back in numbers around here.

I know regions will vary, and I don't know if sharp shinned are around here or not, but they do look pretty darn similar, other than size I guess.

We have lots of coopers around these parts though, those and red tails

 

[MTBake]

The red shoulder is also very close looking to the pic you posted.

Can't find a clear pic of the tail of the red shoulder when it's perched though. It think that'll be the give away.

Red shouldered hawk from Google images...